The Green Tunnel - June 21, 2026

The Appalachian Trail is often referred to as The Green Tunnel. Builder captured a perfect picture to explain why. There are lots of vistas and meadows and rocks, certainly, but a lot of it is scenery like this. (The Green Tunnel is a much better place to walk than The Green Mile, by the way. Great movie, but still.)

He also sent several photos of what look to be a bunch of dead pine trees - perhaps to show how dry it is. We live in the land of pine trees already so, although I LOVE trees, I wasn't as excited about these pictures. (Trivia: The longleaf pine is the official state tree of North Carolina.)

This is one pretty shelter Builder stopped at. He's not sleeping in the shelters, generally, because of the downsides - snoring, spiders, snakes and Norovirus. But it is very enchanting to look at.

And this is the sign at the official halfway point of the trail. So, if a thru hike takes 5-7 months, he could theoretically reach Maine by sometime in September. It's still possible, but he's taking it day by day and step by step, which is all you can really do.

He walked through a park which had public restrooms today, so that was a nice treat. And he stopped at a hostel for the night only which gave him a chance for a shower and a little bit of food restocking.

He also met someone who lives in Old Town Alexandria, right across from the church where we were married, so that was nice for both of them to have company for a while.

This is also Father's Day. He heard from Alex and Ashley (without me needing to remind them). It's SO awesome to have fully adult children.